Commandante Cesare Agnelli, of His Italian Majesty's battleship,
"Garibaldi," has been an earnest colleague of the authors in the
Nutrition Study since the summer of 1900. Like the authors, he received
in the course of experimentation such personal benefits that the
continued observations have been a source of great pleasure ever since.
I take from a letter, dated Taranto, Italy, some excerpts that are good
evidence of the caprice of appetite under different climatic conditions
together with some irrelevant matter, quoted for its good reading:--
"What a good, long, friendly letter! If it was your intention to spoil
me, it certainly proved a success; and I feel so much obliged and thank
you so much for the interesting description of all you saw and did
during your absence from Venice this summer.
"You are too good in remembering the few words of encouragement I said
to you when you first spoke to me about your experiments. The fact is
that I have always regretted that my assistance in the experiments
could not be of greater service; and, really, of us two I am the
indebted for gratitude for the great service your discovery has done to
me since the lucky day I had the pleasure of your acquaintance.
"My bad luck would not have it to allow my ship to go to England for
the Coronation, though at first she was selected to be one of the
three. Only two days ago I met one of our officers who was on the
'Carlo Alberto,' and he confirmed all that you wrote and all that has
been printed about the magnificence of the naval review at Spithead.
"I wish now that I were with you, to be able to talk about what
happened to me during this last cruise of ours, in relation to
observations of nutrition. I can only report facts and feelings, and
you may be able to connect them and assign the causes. You know I do
not usually drink wine, only water; well, on the coast of Africa I
had such a distaste for the latter that I was compelled to take beer
to quench thirst, nor could I even endure mineral waters. My desire
for food was quite changed, my physiological craving dictating to me
quite plainly, as in a doctor's prescription, what I wanted. Even the
best fish in the Mediterranean did not satisfy me. To-day it was eggs
and to-morrow it was cocoa, but never meat that I felt the wish for.
But what is a new caprice of desire relates to my smoking. I could not
smoke a single pipe nor a cigar; only could I tolerate cigarettes,
and those quite without pleasure. At Smyrna I almost fed on ices and
lemonades, but always and ever I could _eat_ (not drink) my cup of
cocoa in the morning. The heat on the coast of Africa at Tripoli and
Ben Ghari was intense, 108° and 110° Fahrenheit, with perspiration in
proportion.
"So it seems to me that appetite is changed to suit latitude or
climatic conditions, and all that we call our exotic pleasures of
appetite, such as smoking, etc., are dependent on our nutrition.
Anyhow, even in the hottest days, my strength never gave way, and I
never felt that lassitude and general unfitness for work that was my
companion in past years in hot climates, as in the West Indies in '86
and '87.
"I never miss an opportunity to spread the virtues of mastication, but
most people are too indifferent to apply the practice long enough to
get the habit established as we have acquired it.
"The first part of our cruise brought a great deal of suffering to
those who are not assisted by a proper discrimination in nutrition.
There was a scant supply of good food, and the bad food was very bad.
I managed to get the best out of it with the assistance of my curious
appetite, and did not suffer inconvenience as did the others. But
we were largely rewarded in Turkish Asia,--a really blessed part of
the world,--and especially at Smyrna. My day began in the bazaar and
ended there, my eyes enjoying Turkish and Persian art in all their
manifestations, from the rich Bokhara and Khorassan carpets to the
Damaseo inlaid works, Rhodes embroideries, and so on. One sees that art
has come from the East, and in every branch of it the influence of the
meridian is always discovered and perceived. My great regret was not
to be able to take it all away with me to Venice and divide it with my
esteemed friends there for our mutual enjoyment. Curiously enough, at
Smyrna I found a good bit of Italian pottery that I secured for almost
nothing. It would have been a great thing if you could have been there
to pass those ten days in Smyrna with me.
"I gave an order for some carpets to be made on measure, but it will
take months to have them ready. Many people do not appreciate the old
carpets, but to my taste modern ones do not have the velvety look or
the _souplesse_ and the softness of the old ones.
"I am sorry circumstances prevented my filling your commission. Had Dr.
Van Someren been there, he is so fond of old things, I am sure he would
have ruined himself.
"It seems as if we would remain here the whole of this month, and then
I hope for a fortnight's leave to go to Venice; and I look forward to
the pleasure of a long chat together.
(_Signed_)
"C. AGNELLI."